Intuit Inc. expects to launch this week a fully-hosted software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform for large enterprises as an add-on to QuickBase for Corporate Workgroups, a company executive said.

Designed for enterprises with more than 100 employees, QuickBase for Corporations features directory-based lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP) authentication, password administration, added security controls and customization for QuickBase portal services, providing a familiar interface for those accessing company data on the Web.

Southwest Airlines Inc.'s migration to QuickBase for Corporations began in February. "We're in the middle of the integration test cycle," said Robert Shaffer, senior director of technology for the airline. "There haven't been any surprises installing the system. Just defining rules and policies, trying to determine how everything should work."

The project, scheduled for completion in June, eases administration issues of trying to sort through accounts stored in multiple repositories.
Offered through Intuit's QuickBase division, companies can tap the service to help manage hundreds of business processes and problems, such as project management, customer relationship management (CRM), IT management, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, human resources and more.

Large enterprises also want to build custom workflows easily to get the application up and running quickly. About 42 Fortune 100 companies use QuickBase, said general manager of Intuit QuickBase Jana Eggers. "We have about 60 pre-built applications, from project management to sales management and operations management," she said.

QuickBase for Corporations, which includes at least one workgroup account, starts at $10,000 per year for 100 users.

Jana Eggers, general manager of Intuit QuickBase, talks about the SaaS business model and Microsoft Corp. chief technical officer Ray Ozzie's memorandum to employees in this podcast.